Ohio State football: Meyer signs contract

Monday

Nov 28, 2011 at 12:01 AMNov 29, 2011 at 4:22 AM

Urban Meyer was formally introduced as the 24th head football coach in Ohio State today, and none have come with stronger credentials. A two-time national-championship coach at Florida, Meyer signed a six-year contract today -- worth $4 million per year. Coach Luke Fickell, who had been elevated to head coach May 30, will coach whatever bowl game the Buckeyes play this year. He also will coach under Meyer as defensive coordinator, the Dispatch has learned.

Urban Meyer was formally introduced as the 24th head football coach in Ohio State today, and none have come with stronger credentials.

A two-time national-championship coach at Florida, Meyer signed a six-year contract worth $4 million per year.

"It's a great opportunity to come back to my home state where I was born and where I grew up, where I went to school and where I met my wife," said Meyer, an Ashtabula native who attended the University of Cincinnati.

Luke Fickell, who had been elevated to head coach May 30 after Jim Tressel was forced to resign in the wake of an NCAA investigation, will remain on the Ohio State coaching staff under Meyer as defensive coordinator, the Dispatchhas learned.

Fickell and his current coaching staff with lead the Buckeyes in whatever bowl game they play this year. Meyer will concentrate on recruiting and assembling a staff.

Meyer, who had been coaching at the University of Florida, left coaching after last season, citing health concerns, and became an analyst with ESPN. He acknowledged that he'd lost balance in his life.

At the same time, Ohio State was in the midst of its tattoo-and-memorabilia scandal that cost Jim Tressel his job as coach and contributed to the Buckeyes' 6-6 season. But Meyer said he did not think he might end up as Ohio State's coach.

"A year ago, in my mind I was convinced I was done coaching," Meyer said.

But the coaching bug did not leave him.

Though rumors of Meyer coming to Ohio State have swirled for weeks, Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith said he didn't have his first conversation with Meyer until Nov. 20 and didn't meet with him until Nov. 23. A deal was offered Sunday and Meyer accepted today. The assistant coaches were told of the coaching change this morning.

He said he will have a football team that will "go hard. I mean, like relentless. I want a bunch of coaches that coach like their hair's on fire, and I want a football team that goes 4-6 seconds of relentless effort. You do that, you have a chance to win in every game you play."

As an Ohio native, he understands the importance of the Michigan game, even referring to their next encounter "362 days away."

The six-year contract for Meyer includes $4 million in annual pay, plus bonuses based on achieving certain milestones, including academic accomplishments for the football program and retention payments of $450,000, $750,000 and $1.2 million if Meyer is still employed as head coach on Jan. 31, 2014; Jan. 31, 2016; and Jan. 31, 2018, respectively. The agreement was reached based on benchmarking of comparable contracts, OSU officials said.

The news of Meyer's hiring caused excitement in Buckeye Nation today.

"I am beyond elated about this hire," said former OSU quarterback Kirk Herbsteit, long-time college football analyst for ESPN. "I have always privately wondered what Urban Meyer would be like at Ohio State, just because of his Ohio ties, and because of his personality.

"He will recruit at a level that I think will be exciting to a lot of people in the Buckeye community, just how intense he is when it comes to recruiting. Talk about some wars between Michigan head coach Brady Hoke and Urban Meyer, it's going to be outstanding to see how that goes. That's because you know the first thing Urban Meyer is going to want is to own the state of Ohio in recruiting.

"He also will put together a staff that will be outstanding. I think that is one thing he really learned in his time at Florida, how important the coordinators and the staff are. That's something he mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago when we were talking, of making sure the staff is taken care of in a good way (financially) to make them want to stick around in Columbus."

Former OSU and all-Pro lineman Jim Lachey, analyst for the Buckeyes' radio broadcasts, was just as elated about the hiring of Meyer.

"He's an outstanding coach. That's proven," Lachey said. "We had the chance to see him go head to head with Ohio State in the national championship game, and obviously they were pretty impressive in that game.

"I also got to see him in the week building up to that in the press conferences and things like that, and in the back of your mind you're kind of thinking, 'That guy's pretty good.' Certainly the results are there."

And as Herbstreit alluded, Meyer has proven to be stout in the bringing in of talent.

"He's got a name out there nationally that's huge, that will certainly help recruiting, and that's the name of the game," Lachey said. "When you can get the best players, it's going to make the coaches appear to be a lot better."

The 47-year-old Meyer, who won two national championships in six seasons at the University of Florida before spending this season as an analyst for ESPN, has been unavailable for comment. He spent the Thanksgiving weekend off the air and with his family.

Funds used to hire Meyer or his assistant coaches would come from the self-sustained OSU athletic department. Tressel was paid an annual total of $3.7 million before his ouster.

Ohio State still is awaiting word from the NCAA committee on infractions concerning final penalties from an NCAA investigation over the past 11 months that, among other things, caused the school to seek the resignation of 10-year coach Tressel on May 30.

Fickell, 38, was elevated from assistant head coach to interim head coach that day. At the same time, the university made it clear that at regular season's end it intended to reassess the head-coaching position and that it would consider candidates -- including Fickell -- for the permanent job. However, it also said it would honor Fickell's two-year contract as assistant head coach, which runs through February 2013.

Fickell was a nose guard for the Buckeyes in the mid-1990s who became an OSU assistant coach in 2002.

Like Fickell and Tressel before him, Meyer would bring an Ohio-native feel to the job. Meyer grew up in Ashtabula, went to the University of Cincinnati and was a graduate assistant coach at Ohio State in the mid-1980s under Earle Bruce before leaving on a journey to several assistant-coaching jobs, including at Notre Dame.

After becoming a head coach for the first time at Bowling Green in 2001, he swiftly turned the Falcons into a winner, going 17-6 over two years before leaving for Utah. He worked the same magic with the Utes, leading them to an undefeated season in 2004, including a win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. Utah was the first team from a non-Bowl Championship Series conference to earn a spot in a BCS bowl.

After being courted by Florida and Notre Dame near the end of that season, Meyer took the Florida job in 2005 and a year later led the Gators to a national-championship win over Ohio State. In 2008, the Gators won the national title again, this time over Oklahoma.

Meyer tried to step away from coaching in December 2009 because of health concerns, but he quickly changed his mind. He took a leave of absence but returned for the 2010 season, only to retire again in December.

"I have been a Division I football coach for the last 25 years and, during that time, my primary focus has been helping my teams win titles," he said. "I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and I am a fierce competitor to my core. At this time in my life, however, I appreciate the sacrifices my 24/7 profession has demanded of me, and I know it is time to put my focus on my family and life away from the field. The decision to step down was a difficult one.

"But after spending more than two decades motivating and celebrating the young men I've been so proud to coach, I relish the opportunity to cheer for my three terrific kids as they compete in their own respective sports. I know how fortunate I am to be in a position to make this choice and to have a family that is as loving and supportive as my amazing wife and children have always been."

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